Stage and Screen Classics, Reissued: "Until September" and "Camelot"

If there’s a link between Kritzerland’s two new releases, it would have to be melody. I’m speaking of sheer, unadulterated, romantic melody, courtesy of two of music’s finest purveyors of such themes: John Barry and Frederick Loewe. This morning, the stage and screen specialists announced two limited edition titles of 1,000, and both are notable, indeed. From Mr. Barry comes the 1984 score to Until September, while Mr. Loewe is represented by the first-ever CD release of the 1964 Original London Cast Album to his musical penned with Alan Jay Lerner, Camelot. The U.K. production starred Laurence Harvey (The Manchurian Candidate) as King Arthur, the role originated by Richard Burton on Broadway.

Until September found Barry in the same lush, romantic vein he mined in films like Somewhere in Time. While the film didn’t make waves upon its initial release, it boasts an impressive pedigree: the composer of countless James Bond films, the director of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, a star of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The score couldn’t be more different than, say, The Knack …And How to Get It (recently reissued by Quartet Records), but Barry’s trademark gift for memorable themes is very much in evidence. Until September follows Kritzerland’s splendid remaster of Barry’s evocative score to The Whisperers. Here's the full press release:

“An American In Paris named Mo misses her flight with her tour group and has become stranded in the City of Light. She meets a debonair French banker named Xavier. Pretty quickly he informs her he’d like to sleep with her despite the fact that he is married. And therein lies the tale of an affair to remember and love conquers all. Directed by Richard Marquand (fresh from directing Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi), the film stars Karen Allen as the spunky Mo Alexander, and Thierry Lhermitte as Xavier, the cocky, suave, rich, and good-looking Frenchman. As the Gershwins wrote, who could ask for anything more? Well, the audiences and critics of 1984, because they just weren’t buying Until September. But eventually, on cable and video, the film found fans, fans that found the love story appealing, and the scenery irresistible. But making the whole thing doubly appealing and irresistible is the gorgeous score by John Barry.

No one did this kind of score better than John Barry. He’d already given the world the hyper-romantic score to Somewhere in Time, and would soon do Out of Africa, both of which spawned best-selling soundtracks. Barry, of course, was already a legend for his James Bond scores, and had also provided classic music for any number of great films, including Séance On A Wet Afternoon, The Ipcress File, The Knack…And How To Get It, The Wrong Box, Born Free, The Whisperers, Mary, Queen of Scots, Midnight Cowboy, The Lion In Winter, Walkabout, Robin and Marian, King Kong, Body Heat, and that list doesn’t even scratch the surface. Every cue in Until September drips with exquisite Barry melody and invention. There is no use fighting it – just surrender, close your eyes, and let the music wash over you, its very own City Of Light.

The soundtrack to Until September has had several releases – an LP on Varese Sarabande, a CD of that album presentation on Silva Screen, and a limited edition release of the almost complete score by Intrada – the latter was an instant sellout, and many people missed out on that release. And so we decided to make it available again in another edition of 1,000 units, so that the people who missed out would have another chance to get it, and because we wanted to honor the memory of the great John Barry with one of his most romantic and beautiful scores. The Intrada release presented the score in film order. To that, we decided to include the original LP sequencing, which was done by Mr. Barry, because it’s a whole different listening experience. We have done our own remastering for this release.”

The story behind the Original London Cast Recording of Camelot follows after the jump along with track listings, discographical info and pre-order links for both titles!

1960’s Camelot may be now and forever associated with the John F. Kennedy White House, but the timeless score of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe still resonates today. This is largely due to the original Columbia Records cast recording which has never been out-of-print since its initial release that year. Upon the show’s premiere, the score received numerous recordings from artists from Andre Previn to Percy Faith. Four years after the Broadway premiere, Camelot returned “home” to the United Kingdom, where it had its London debut in a production wholly different from the Broadway original. This, in itself, was unusual in an era where London productions often were restagings of the productions seen in New York. (This is still often the case today.) Laurence Harvey, of The Manchurian Candidate, played the once and future King, Arthur, opposite the Guenevere of Elizabeth Larner. The original London cast album offers a very different listening experience than the Broadway original, and includes some material (most notably “The Jousts”) not on the Broadway disc. It's a different take on a familiar favorite, and Kritzerland’s reissue marks the very first time this recording has been released on CD. Here’s what the label has to say about the title:

“Adapted from T.H. White’s The Once And Future King, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Camelot was one of the most highly anticipated shows imaginable. After all, their previous show had been one of the biggest Broadway success stories in history – the huge smash hit My Fair Lady. And they’d had the big success of Gigi on the screen. Add to that a stunning cast of Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Roddy McDowall, and Robert Goulet making his Broadway debut. Then Moss Hart as director, Oliver Smith for sets, costumes by Adrian (who died before the show went into rehearsals) and Tony Duquette, and with an advance sale that was the largest in musical theatre history, well, what could possibly go wrong? As it turned out, the road was rocky to Camelot, but despite the travails on the road to Broadway, the show had a healthy 873 performance run, and had several tours, several revivals, a film version, and lots of other productions since.

The show won four Tony Awards, the original Broadway cast album spent sixty weeks at the top of the Billboard chart, and the score spawned several standards. And, in 1964, the show made its London debut. Opening at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on August 19th, producer Jack Hylton’s production of Camelot sported a stellar cast, including film star Laurence Harvey as Arthur, Elizabeth Larner as Guenevere) and Barry Kent as Lancelot. Critic Harold Hobson said of Harvey’s Arthur, “I count this performance as amongst the big theatrical experiences of my life.” The production was directed and choreographed by Robert Helpmann, with scenery and costumes by John Truscott and lighting by Richard Pilbrow. The show ran 518 performances.

What becomes clear in every revival or presentation of the show is that the score by Lerner and Loewe is one of the most glorious in all musical theater. Whatever deficiencies the book may or may not have, the score just overpowers them.

The London cast album is a treasure. It feels quite different than its Broadway counterpart and includes “The Jousts” that wasn’t on the original Broadway cast album. Harvey is a great King Arthur, and Larner is a wonderful Guenevere. Their performances are reason enough to cherish the London recording, but the whole thing has a vibrancy and sheen that is terrific, and that score – one great song after another – I think it’s safe use the old saw that they don’t write ‘em like this anymore.

The CD was mastered from the original tapes from the EMI vaults in the U.K.”

Both Until September and Camelot are limited to 1,000 copies only. As Until September sold out its Intrada pressing almost immediately, those interested in this title just might be advised to order soon! (Unlike that release, the new edition features the score in both the original film order and the LP sequience.) Both albums sell for $19.98, plus shipping, and will ship the second week of May. Pre-orders placed directly through the label usually ship an average of four weeks early.

You’ll find pre-order links and track listings with discographical info below!

John Barry, Until September: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Varese Sarabande STV 81226, 1984 – reissued Kritzerland KR-20018-9, 2011)